What Does The Fan Token Mean For NHL Fans?
Recently, there have been numerous fan token announcements from a significant number of NHL franchises about new sponsorship deals being struck with a company called Socios. Sponsorships are crucial to organizations in the NHL and these partnerships with the digital company could begin a new era of fan engagement yet to be seen in hockey.
Among those franchises that could benefit from the partnership are the Islanders. They’ll be possible fits should the fan token, introduced by Socios to their partner clubs in Europe, come to the NHL.
But what are these fan tokens, you ask? The fan token is an NFT, something which we’ve recently been introduced to with digital collectible cards, as highlighted by Yahoo just ahead of the holiday season. However, rather than the digital collectible just being a unique asset in its own right, the Socios fan tokens also can be used as the key to opening up access to a world of possible VIP experiences — from giving owners the chance to vote on club decisions such as kit designs to gaining the opportunity to earn exclusive rewards. Just imagine if you could get access to a one-off piece of signed merchandise from Pat LaFontaine, for example, as a fan token owner?
As a result of these value-added extras beyond the standard NFT, the clubs who have adopted the digitally based token as part of their offering to their army of fans have seen them flying off the virtual shelves, with supporters from many of Europe’s most prominent soccer clubs snapping them up. Fans of Barcelona, Manchester City, Arsenal and Paris St Germain have bought out the initial allocations of tokens being initially priced at just $2 each to get their own key to their kingdom, raising millions of dollars for the clubs, too. But it doesn’t stop there. Fans of the Aston Martin Formula 1 team and followers of the UFC are taking up the option of the tokens, as well. So, a move into the NHL could be seen as a natural progression for something proving highly popular with fans in other sports.
Should the fan token in the NHL become a reality, it will undoubtedly further add another injection of cash into franchises, too. But most importantly, it will mean that fans worldwide will have more accessibility to their heroes — and favorite organization — than they’ve ever had before.
